The Way of Kings

The Stormlight Archive, Book 1

By: Brandon Sanderson

Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer

Length: 45 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

From number one New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, book one of the Stormlight Archive, begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the 10 consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where 10 armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of more than 10 years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths:

Life before death.

Strength before weakness.

Journey before destination.

And return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson:

The Cosmere

The Stormlight Archive:

• The Way of Kings
• Words of Radiance
• Edgedancer (Novella)
• Oathbringer

The Mistborn trilogy:

• Mistborn: The Final Empire
• The Well of Ascension
• The Hero of Ages

Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series:

• Alloy of Law
• Shadows of Self
• Bands of Mourning

Collection:

• Arcanum Unbounded

Other Cosmere novels:

• Elantris
• Warbreaker

The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series:

• Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
• The Scrivener's Bones
• The Knights of Crystallia
• The Shattered Lens
• The Dark Talent

The Rithmatist series:

• The Rithmatist

Other books by Brandon Sanderson:

• The Reckoners
• Steelheart
• Firefight
• Calamity

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2010 Dragonsteel Entertaiment, LLC (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

Instant Classic

I can't write a reveiw as eloquently as many of the others have here. This is just a good book. Well worth the read. If you enjoyed "The Wheel of Time" series, you will enjoy this well written novel. Brandon Sanderson is now one of my favorite authors.

Push Through for an Incredible Epic Fantasy Novel

I guess the best way I can start this review is a little more background. I've read four Brandon Sanderson novels (Steelheart, Firefight, The Rithmatist, and Mistborn). So I have a pretty good track record with his books. But jumping into a book that's over 1000 pages or 40+ audiobook hours was a little daunting. The other problem is that The Way of Kings takes a long time to warm up. I mean a long time. I'd say it was a third maybe up to a half of the way through the novel before the wheels really started to turn for me. There are just so many characters and so much world building to take in that at times its overwhelming. There's a ton going on in The Way of Kings.

Some of the world building pays off and other stuff is just to fill in your imagination the world that Sanderson has built. There are three primary characters and nearly a hundred other characters that you get to know. A lot of which have their own chapters. The main three are extremely engaging though. You have Dalinar Kohlin a Brightlord who's known to be one of the most honest men in the kingdom. Then you have Shallan a woman who's family is in ruins and is set to find her family help. And finally the main character at least in my opinion is Kaladin. He's a slave but has the most backstory and consistently throughout the book has the most interesting journey.

Once you get over the hump, The Way of Kings builds a world that's both engrossing and extremely entertaining. The last hundred pages or so are some of the best fantasy I've ever read. There's struggle, war, romance, political battles, and religious insights. You learn so much about the world of Roshar that at times I had to remember the world wasn't real. Sanderson has always been a great world builder but I've never read anything to the level of The Way of Kings. For me getting past the first half gave a huge payoff in the end. I can only hope the next book, Words of Radiance can start quickly and continue to build off of this incredible fantasy epic that Brandon Sanderson has written.

By far Brandon Sanderson's richest world 5 stars

What made the experience of listening to The Way of Kings the most enjoyable?

first of all this this book spares no expense with two renowned book actors. Kate Reeding is terrific on her own as is Michael Kramer but it was a particular luxury to have a woman to characterize all the women's parts and a man to do all the male parts. And a terrific choice given the breadth and scope of the world this book is setting up. I have read or listened to all of Brandon Sanderson's books to date and while elantris was a nice first effort it started to lose me towards its end as it began to feel all finished but for the exposition and I never really cared as much about those characters as I did in this work. The MIstborn Series was another quantum step forward because while Mistborn;s this magic system was genuinely fresh, novel and completely believable I also found the character development and the tensions introduced between them far more visceral and compelling. Also the plot in those books was very good with many interesting reveals all the way through all of those books. Still, I would not quite put either of those efforts in the soulful category of the astonishing Patrick Rothfuss novels yet. That all changes with the opening book of

Who was your favorite character and why?

I did not have a favorite character I liked several for different reasons. If I had to narrow it down I would say look for a certain bridge man a certain truly noble older royal person who must keep certain visions to himself, a Royal female scholar and a certain mysterious thief and assassin. I am not going to say more because I do not want to give anything away. but all of them were fun to inhabit as they traveled down their stories.

What about Kate Reading and Michael Kramer ’s performance did you like?

I answered this earlier but I will say it again, It was a real treat to have a woman for the female parts and a man for the male parts. It was a particular treat to have two such well loved narrators in the same book, both have won awards for reading other books and are generally very well received on their own but to have them both gave the book itself an added sense of reality and dimension.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Again there were several poignant parts to the book and I am not going to name any now, I will let others decide for themselves

Any additional comments?

This book is a sign that there are still many new masters in the making ready to come pick up the mantle that People like Tolkien, Jordan, GRRM, and Goodkind have created. fortunately some of them are still writing but clearly when they are no longer doing so Brandon will be one of the ones to carry on such a great writing genre's tradition of excellent fantasy story telling.

awesome book!

love the book. just got done with it for a second time.
Kate reading misprounces some words which is a bit annoying.

Fantastic Book, one narration annoyance!

What did you love best about The Way of Kings?

The Way of Kings was a wonderful introduction to Sanderson's new Stormlight Archive series. The characters are well developed and I was excited, nervous, worried about what would happen next.

Have you listened to any of Kate Reading and Michael Kramer ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to other work by Michael Kramer or Kate Reading before. I really enjoyed Michael Kramer's work. His narration felt invested and engaged to me. Kate Reading was a fine narrator as well, but her alternate pronunciation of Sadeas toward the end of the book was very jarring and distracting.

Very well written

Excellent book, wonderful characters. fabulous world building and magic system. I very much enjoyed this book and look forward to the next.

Legendary!

Kate Reading's performance was lackluster. Her pronunciation of names differed from Michael Kramer which was jarring. Otherwise, epic audio book!

Took a bit to become immersed, but that's expected

Starting a new fantasy world is difficult. I can't count the amount of times I put down Robert Jordan's "Eye of the World" before eventually becoming an avid Wheel of Time fan. Sanderson's incredible ability to finish another author's incredibly detailed story is what led me to try this series, and I wasn't disappointed. The characters remind me of Lan, Rand, Nynaeve, and Elayne from WoT. Each is well developed.

The world isn't fully formed even by the end of the book but you have hints of what it will become throughout the series. I enjoy the flashbacks to aid in character building.

I was downloading the next book the second I realized I was almost finished with this one. The only time I've stopped listening to this book in the last week was to sleep or read my other Liveship Trilogy book on my Kindle. With the death of Jordan, Gemmell, and Pratchett, I'm really happy to have found a young writer that is capable of filling their shoes and producing books at a rapid pace. I can't wait to consume the next book.

Masterful Writing

This series was recommended by my daughter and I wasn't disappointed. I like to listen on long car drives and this made the drive seem short. The list of characters is complex and it took a bit to get submerged in the story, but I loved it and have since listened to all the books in the series so far.

amazing universe!

the universe of this story creates such a wonderful tale that weaves a greater history together and creates something wonderful and magical